It is well known in the prior art to provide devices which emit chemiluminescent light responsive to mixing of two or more components. Such devices can be utilized for both practical and ornamental purposes. Commonly, the chemiluminescent fluid components are retained in a tube or other container after mixing. Exemplary of such products are the devices and materials disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 5,158,349, issued Oct. 27, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,949, issued Mar. 21, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,534, issued May 28, 1974, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,846, issued Aug. 14, 1973. These are merely representative of the prior art and many different chemiluminescent chemicals have been employed to produce chemiluminescence.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,211, issued Jun. 8, 1971, discloses a device for providing chemiluminescent light from a chemical reaction of suitable compounds including a fluorescent compound. The device illustrated in the patent may be utilized as either a self-contained light unit or a chemiluminescent dispensing unit and includes an outer tube. Bending the flexible, light-transmitting outer tube containing one chemiluminescent component breaks a frangible inner container holding a second component, allowing the substances to react.
The patent states that the luminescent reaction product may be dispensed and used as a luminescent marker or held in the closed device for use as an illumination wand. With regard to the dispensing approach, the patent discloses an outer tube having an opening through which the chemiluminescent material can be poured or squeezed by the user onto a surface. Two different embodiments are disclosed and both have the same deficiencies. Utilizing the approaches of U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,211, the user has no positive control over the amount of material to be dispensed. In other words, either an excess or deficiency of product dispensed is highly probable, making the device relatively unsuited to the decoration of clothing and other objects. Furthermore, there is always the danger that material from the ruptured or broken inner container or capsule will itself be dispensed along with the liquid. This can be particularly harmful if the ruptured inner container or capsule is formed of glass, as is common in chemiluminescent light sticks, wands, and other similar devices.